1908 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

Main article: 1908 United States presidential election

1908 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

←  1904 November 3, 1908 1912  →

Nominee William Howard Taft William Jennings Bryan Eugene V. Debs Party Republican Democratic Socialist Home state Ohio Nebraska Indiana Running mate James S. Sherman John W. Kern Ben Hanford Electoral vote 13 0 0 Popular vote 247,747 166,662 28,147 Percentage 54.52% 36.67% 6.19%

County Results Taft   30-40%   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90% Bryan   40-50%   50-60%

President before election Theodore Roosevelt Republican Elected President William Howard Taft Republican

The 1908 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 3, 1908 as part of the 1908 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Ever since the decline of the Populist movement, Wisconsin had become almost a one-party state dominated by the Republican Party. ^[1] The Democratic Party became entirely uncompetitive outside certain German Catholic counties adjoining Lake Michigan as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, completely fled from William Jennings Bryan’s agrarian and free silver sympathies. ^[2] As Democratic strength weakened severely after 1894 – although the state did develop a strong Socialist Party to provide opposition to the GOP – Wisconsin developed the direct Republican primary in 1903 and this ultimately created competition between the “League” under Robert M. La Follette, and the conservative “Regular” faction. ^[3]

When William Jennings Bryan was nominated for a third presidential bid, he visited Wisconsin in early August to urge the Democrats in the state legislature to support his state policies. ^[4] An earlier poll had suggest Bryan gaining a substantial part of the radical La Follette following, ^[5] and Bryan would ridicule new Republican nominee William Howard Taft in Milwaukee during the last week of September. ^[6]

Despite Bryan’s campaigns, October polls by the Chicago Record-Herald said that Wisconsin was certain to vote for Taft, ^[7] As things turned out, the Record-Herald polls were accurate, with Taft winning by eighty-one thousand votes, and carrying all but six counties.

Bryan had previously lost Wisconsin to William McKinley in both 1896 and 1900.

Results

1908 United States presidential election in Wisconsin [8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	William Howard Taft	247,747	54.52%	13
	Democratic	William Jennings Bryan	166,662	36.67%	0
	Socialist	Eugene V. Debs	28,147	6.19%	0
	Prohibition	Eugene W. Chafin	11,565	2.54%	0
	Socialist Labor	August Gillhaus	318	0.07%	0
	Write-ins	—	2	0.00%	0
Totals			454,121	100.0%	13

Results by county

1908 United States presidential election in Wisconsin by county ^[9]

County	William Howard Taft Republican		William Jennings Bryan Democratic		Eugene Victor Debs Socialist		Eugene Wilder Chafin Prohibition		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	1,167	68.97%	436	25.77%	32	1.89%	56	3.31%	1	0.06%	731	43.20%	1,692
Ashland	2,259	54.21%	1,582	37.96%	213	5.11%	110	2.64%	3	0.07%	677	16.25%	4,167
Barron	3,247	66.46%	1,266	25.91%	128	2.62%	243	4.97%	2	0.04%	1,981	40.54%	4,886
Bayfield	1,957	70.27%	579	20.79%	174	6.25%	72	2.59%	3	0.11%	1,378	49.48%	2,785
Brown	4,947	55.25%	3,354	37.46%	516	5.76%	129	1.44%	8	0.09%	1,593	17.79%	8,954
Buffalo	1,937	63.72%	1,027	33.78%	20	0.66%	56	1.84%	0	0.00%	910	29.93%	3,040
Burnett	1,181	72.19%	296	18.09%	65	3.97%	93	5.68%	1	0.06%	885	54.10%	1,636
Calumet	1,576	46.33%	1,711	50.29%	85	2.50%	30	0.88%	0	0.00%	-135	-3.97%	3,402
Chippewa	3,526	59.07%	2,203	36.91%	90	1.51%	148	2.48%	2	0.03%	1,323	22.16%	5,969
Clark	3,491	65.73%	1,576	29.67%	92	1.73%	152	2.86%	0	0.00%	1,915	36.06%	5,311
Columbia	4,072	60.12%	2,363	34.89%	140	2.07%	198	2.92%	0	0.00%	1,709	25.23%	6,773
Crawford	2,041	54.25%	1,586	42.16%	63	1.67%	72	1.91%	0	0.00%	455	12.09%	3,762
Dane	9,441	52.42%	7,818	43.41%	256	1.42%	489	2.72%	5	0.03%	1,623	9.01%	18,009
Dodge	4,015	39.66%	5,883	58.12%	63	0.62%	162	1.60%	0	0.00%	-1,868	-18.45%	10,123
Door	2,463	73.92%	778	23.35%	37	1.11%	53	1.59%	1	0.03%	1,685	50.57%	3,332
Douglas	3,509	55.88%	1,715	27.31%	653	10.40%	257	4.09%	146	2.32%	1,794	28.57%	6,280
Dunn	3,297	74.39%	914	20.62%	119	2.69%	102	2.30%	0	0.00%	2,383	53.77%	4,432
Eau Claire	3,981	64.50%	1,859	30.12%	158	2.56%	174	2.82%	0	0.00%	2,122	34.38%	6,172
Florence	541	81.11%	102	15.29%	5	0.75%	19	2.85%	0	0.00%	439	65.82%	667
Fond du Lac	5,872	50.86%	5,194	44.99%	230	1.99%	244	2.11%	5	0.04%	678	5.87%	11,545
Forest	1,023	71.69%	324	22.70%	46	3.22%	31	2.17%	3	0.21%	699	48.98%	1,427
Grant	4,989	55.09%	3,696	40.81%	83	0.92%	288	3.18%	0	0.00%	1,293	14.28%	9,056
Green	2,617	54.48%	1,856	38.63%	122	2.54%	209	4.35%	0	0.00%	761	15.84%	4,804
Green Lake	2,094	55.15%	1,608	42.35%	32	0.84%	63	1.66%	0	0.00%	486	12.80%	3,797
Iowa	2,986	56.18%	2,077	39.08%	12	0.23%	238	4.48%	2	0.04%	909	17.10%	5,315
Iron	1,134	73.92%	314	20.47%	42	2.74%	43	2.80%	1	0.07%	820	53.46%	1,534
Jackson	2,603	77.91%	631	18.89%	40	1.20%	65	1.95%	2	0.06%	1,972	59.02%	3,341
Jefferson	3,207	40.43%	4,492	56.63%	70	0.88%	161	2.03%	2	0.03%	-1,285	-16.20%	7,932
Juneau	2,454	57.59%	1,691	39.69%	37	0.87%	77	1.81%	2	0.05%	763	17.91%	4,261
Kenosha	3,409	54.50%	2,006	32.07%	601	9.61%	239	3.82%	0	0.00%	1,403	22.43%	6,255
Kewaunee	1,590	46.48%	1,731	50.60%	63	1.84%	37	1.08%	0	0.00%	-141	-4.12%	3,421
La Crosse	4,382	50.15%	4,054	46.40%	112	1.28%	189	2.16%	0	0.00%	328	3.75%	8,737
Lafayette	2,832	55.96%	2,100	41.49%	24	0.47%	105	2.07%	0	0.00%	732	14.46%	5,061
Langlade	1,921	57.21%	1,340	39.90%	33	0.98%	64	1.91%	0	0.00%	581	17.30%	3,358
Lincoln	2,308	53.89%	1,813	42.33%	99	2.31%	63	1.47%	0	0.00%	495	11.56%	4,283
Manitowoc	4,126	45.39%	3,952	43.47%	947	10.42%	61	0.67%	5	0.05%	174	1.91%	9,091
Marathon	5,258	50.62%	4,722	45.46%	275	2.65%	133	1.28%	0	0.00%	536	5.16%	10,388
Marinette	3,454	63.45%	1,597	29.34%	154	2.83%	235	4.32%	4	0.07%	1,857	34.11%	5,444
Marquette	1,555	64.42%	798	33.06%	17	0.70%	44	1.82%	0	0.00%	757	31.36%	2,414
Milwaukee	28,625	38.97%	26,000	35.40%	17,496	23.82%	1,278	1.74%	57	0.08%	2,625	3.57%	73,456
Monroe	3,304	58.11%	2,155	37.90%	91	1.60%	136	2.39%	0	0.00%	1,149	20.21%	5,686
Oconto	3,020	64.77%	1,453	31.16%	114	2.44%	75	1.61%	1	0.02%	1,567	33.60%	4,663
Oneida	1,536	58.92%	688	26.39%	354	13.58%	28	1.07%	1	0.04%	848	32.53%	2,607
Outagamie	5,079	52.34%	4,286	44.17%	118	1.22%	209	2.15%	12	0.12%	793	8.17%	9,704
Ozaukee	1,216	38.48%	1,856	58.73%	60	1.90%	27	0.85%	1	0.03%	-640	-20.25%	3,160
Pepin	1,010	67.42%	447	29.84%	5	0.33%	36	2.40%	0	0.00%	563	37.58%	1,498
Pierce	2,988	71.62%	978	23.44%	56	1.34%	150	3.60%	0	0.00%	2,010	48.18%	4,172
Polk	2,788	72.02%	816	21.08%	121	3.13%	146	3.77%	0	0.00%	1,972	50.94%	3,871
Portage	3,269	56.42%	2,362	40.77%	50	0.86%	112	1.93%	1	0.02%	907	15.65%	5,794
Price	1,738	65.26%	609	22.87%	236	8.86%	79	2.97%	1	0.04%	1,129	42.40%	2,663
Racine	5,490	52.77%	3,688	35.45%	794	7.63%	429	4.12%	3	0.03%	1,802	17.32%	10,404
Richland	2,464	54.83%	1,689	37.58%	51	1.13%	289	6.43%	1	0.02%	775	17.25%	4,494
Rock	7,839	66.81%	3,227	27.50%	265	2.26%	391	3.33%	12	0.10%	4,612	39.30%	11,734
Rusk	1,431	67.82%	532	25.21%	96	4.55%	48	2.27%	3	0.14%	899	42.61%	2,110
Sauk	3,854	57.06%	2,571	38.07%	35	0.52%	294	4.35%	0	0.00%	1,283	19.00%	6,754
Sawyer	815	70.81%	299	25.98%	19	1.65%	18	1.56%	0	0.00%	516	44.83%	1,151
Shawano	3,349	63.90%	1,750	33.39%	40	0.76%	102	1.95%	0	0.00%	1,599	30.51%	5,241
Sheboygan	5,948	52.40%	4,405	38.81%	752	6.62%	245	2.16%	1	0.01%	1,543	13.59%	11,351
St. Croix	3,228	62.29%	1,773	34.21%	83	1.60%	98	1.89%	0	0.00%	1,455	28.08%	5,182
Taylor	1,627	60.80%	924	34.53%	82	3.06%	42	1.57%	1	0.04%	703	26.27%	2,676
Trempealeau	3,733	75.31%	1,085	21.89%	22	0.44%	117	2.36%	0	0.00%	2,648	53.42%	4,957
Vernon	4,114	69.71%	1,561	26.45%	39	0.66%	188	3.19%	0	0.00%	2,553	43.26%	5,902
Vilas	794	71.73%	278	25.11%	17	1.54%	18	1.63%	0	0.00%	516	46.61%	1,107
Walworth	4,151	62.21%	1,960	29.37%	73	1.09%	487	7.30%	2	0.03%	2,191	32.83%	6,673
Washburn	1,114	69.02%	396	24.54%	69	4.28%	35	2.17%	0	0.00%	718	44.49%	1,614
Washington	2,588	48.54%	2,625	49.23%	77	1.44%	41	0.77%	1	0.02%	-37	-0.69%	5,332
Waukesha	4,758	55.91%	3,206	37.67%	197	2.31%	346	4.07%	3	0.04%	1,552	18.24%	8,510
Waupaca	4,785	71.93%	1,483	22.29%	143	2.15%	239	3.59%	2	0.03%	3,302	49.64%	6,652
Waushara	2,820	79.73%	507	14.33%	82	2.32%	114	3.22%	14	0.40%	2,313	65.39%	3,537
Winnebago	6,797	52.24%	5,511	42.36%	288	2.21%	412	3.17%	3	0.02%	1,286	9.88%	13,011
Wood	3,013	50.92%	2,498	42.22%	274	4.63%	132	2.23%	0	0.00%	515	8.70%	5,917
Totals	247,747	54.52%	166,662	36.67%	28,147	6.19%	11,565	2.54%	318	0.07%	81,085	17.84%	454,439

See also

• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin

References

1. Burnham, Walter Dean; 'The System of 1896: An Analysis'; in The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, pp. 178-179 ISBN   0313213798
2. Sundquist, James; Politics and Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years, p. 526 ISBN   0815719094
3. Hansen, John Mark; Shigeo Hirano, and Snyder, James M. Jr.; ‘Parties within Parties: Parties, Factions, and Coordinated Politics, 1900-1980’; in Gerber, Alan S. and Schickler, Eric; Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America, pp. 165-168 ISBN   978-1-107-09509-0
4. ‘LaFollette Country!’; The Idaho Recorder, August 6, 1908, p. 7
5. ‘La Follette’s Part in the Coming Campaign: Looks like a Case of Bob and Bryan’; The Indianapolis News , July 18, 1908, p. 12
6. ‘Bryan Ridivules Taft in Milwaukee: Says Republican Candidate Is not in Sympathy with Convention Principles’; The Gazette (York, Pennsylvania), September 27, 1908, p. 1
7. ‘Wisconsin for Taft: The Record-Herald Poll Suggests a Majority of 87,000’; The Hutchinson News , October 20, 1908, p. 1
8. "1908 Presidential General Election Results – Wisconsin" . Retrieved August 18, 2016.
9. "Popular Vote at the Presidential Election for 1908". Géoelections. (.xlsx file for €30 including full minor party figures)